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Interesting Small but Gigable Amp?

When I used to play with an acoustic guitarist I took my regular amp, Thunderfunk 550, and a Bergantino AE112 cab.

The difference in size between my AE112 and any 10" cab is minimal but the sound difference is huge.

This was a quality pairing for a small gig, and I just added the other AE112 for large gigs.
 
I had an impromptu practice the other day but instead of using the guitars player place because he has a house, I had it at my place. I live in a condo and don't play thru my amp for obvious reasons. The guitar player bought his 8 inch crate amp and the other player had an acoustic. Looking around for something I could use, I took one of my studio speakers I use with my computer and plugged my active Fender jazz into it and turned it all the way up. Was I amazed at the tone this thing put out with no distortion. It's a powered PreSonus studio speaker with a long throw 4 inch woofer with a bass port and a tweeter powered by a 70 watt internal amp and weights only 10 lbs. It was more than enough bass to fill the room. I was so impressed, I'm thinking of buying a handle for it to carry it around as a practice amp. I'll take it to my next small venue gig and see what happens. 10 lb amp, 9 lb bass, it don't get much better than that folks!.
 
Hey Guys,

I'm searching for opinions on the most interesting light but gigable amp. I'm not delusional, I know no amp that is tiny is going to really cut through a full band. I mean gigable in the sense of like stage volume enough for an acoustic gig where I'm going through the house system. Preferable something I could carry with one hand and something tonally appealing. This will mostly be a stay at home practice amp so I don't want to have a ton of money invested in it. I've had small amps that are just horribly unfulfilling sonically.

Been there, and found an amp meeting your needs: Fender Rumble 40 with the driver upgraded (Eminence S2010) and tuning optimized. Easy one hand carry: 17 lbs. Audible fundamental to E, and strong fundamental to G. Substantial increase in spl over the stock driver. Plenty of volume for practice with 5 acoustic players and small venue (restaurant & coffee house) gigs with no house support. The tone is big (though not massive like a quality 115), articulate and clean. The stock amp did have a baked in vintage ('bassy') tone, even without the 'vintage' button engaged. If you need more spl capability the Rumble 100 and 200 meet your budget - a bit too vintage for me, but well built, reliable (IMO and by accounts here at TB), and with an enclosure large enough to allow a substantial driver/tone upgrade. The '40' meets all my needs for small rig. Like you, I have more demanding needs covered, so there was really no need for a larger, higher power amp. Tone wise, it kills the MB, TC, stock Fender, GK and GB combos (yes, even the 115's). It has no need to make an impressive in-store audition. The Rumble 100 and 200 may provide you with a useful increase in power, but the 40 easily met my very similar needs.
 
I know it is not a combo but I am using a Streamliner 900 (LOVE the tone!) into an EA 1x10 cabinet that is flat-out AMAZING for the weight. I have a bag for the amp and can walk in with everything I need for a gig in 1 trip. It sure doesn't have the bottom of my Accugroove Tri-115 - but it is definitely gig-able.